After making national headlines during the home foreclosure crisis, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced a proposal Wednesday to create a new crime in New York: foreclosure fraud.

The measure would make it a felony for firms to engage in “robo-signing,” a fraudulent practice that allowed companies to rapidly pursue foreclosures, triggering an explosion in cases. In some instances, the practice led to unlawful foreclosure proceedings.

Carrying a maximum sentence of four years in prison, the bill would for the first time treat mortgage fraud as “the serious crime it is,” the Democrat said.

“We can deter future abuse and spare untold numbers of families the trauma of wrongful foreclosure,” Schneiderman said in a statement.